Liver recipient Mohamed  AND Kidney recipient Nezan
By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter

The transplant team at the HMC’s Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation (QCOT) has again appealed to residents to assist the centre to achieve its aim of saving lives by donating organs as live donors or be willing to give consents for organs of their deceased relatives.
At present, there are a total of 12 people on waiting list for liver transplant at the HMC surgery department.
“We are appealing to the public to come to the aid of these people, who are suffering due to liver failure, before their conditions degenerate into more serious and life-threatening complications,” Dr Mohamed Chowdhary, a member of the team, said in a press conference yesterday.
“Liver cirrhosis should be treated with urgency and utmost importance because there is no alternative to their care as is the case with those suffering from renal failure or kidney problem as these category of people are able to take care of themselves through dialysis, pending receiving a donated kidney,” he said.
The successfully transplanted liver was donated by a 48-year-old Filipino expatriate, who died of a cerebral stroke, to a 43-year old Egyptian who had suffered liver cirrhosis - complications due to hepatitis C- for several years.
Loutfi Mohamed, the recipient, whose life is now saved, came to Qatar in 2001 and started having the health problem in 2008 with swollen legs and abdomen as well as yellow eyes and he was advancing into life threatening stage.
The father of three was yesterday discharged from HMC surgery department 10 days after the surgery.
“I am grateful to God, government of Qatar and HMC as well as the transplant team for the great work they have done in saving my life. And, I’ll forever be grateful and pray for the donor,” Mohamed, who plans to visit his family in Egypt next June, said.
“Mohamed’s case was an exceptional one as he was able to recover very quickly. Usually it takes between two weeks and six weeks and in fact up to six months for many liver recipients to fully recover,” Dr Chowdhary added.
Another recipient of a kidney from the same deceased donor, a Lebanese expatriate Moustafa Nezan, 39, who has been on dialysis for the past nine years said: “I was without hope before when I was on dialysis, but now I am very hopeful and have a reason to live on in life. I give thanks to God and those who have helped me throughout my travails.”
He added that since he received the kidney some two weeks ago, he feels much better and different from when he was sick.
A Pakistani expatriate received the second kidney from the same donor.
Members of the surgery team led by HMC surgery department chairman and consultant surgeon Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, included urology and transplant surgery professor Dr Riadh A S Fadhil, three consultant surgeons specialising in liver transplants - Dr Hatem Ali Khalaf, Chowdhary and Henrik Anun Gjerstsen - as well as consultant anaesthesiologist Mohamed Nagy al-Masri.
Dr Al-Ansari said: “We created the world record by performing the first liver transplant just after one week of opening the organ transplant centre. We proved to the world that although, we are small team but we can achieve a lot.”
The achievement by the team is being dedicated to HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, in recognition and appreciation of her support to the National Organ Transplant Programme.
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